The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hibiscus, botanically known as Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Pink Kai’.
The new Hibiscus is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Alva, Fla. The objective of the breeding program is to create new freely-branching Hibiscus cultivars with a dense, uniform and compact plant habit appropriate for container production, early and uniform flowering, numerous flowers per lateral branch, desirable flower color and good garden performance.
The new Hibiscus originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in Alva, Fla. in February, 2004, of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis ‘Cajun Wind’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 17,589, as the female, or seed, parent with Hibiscus rosa-sinensis ‘Casa Grande Soft Pink’, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Hibiscus was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Alva, Fla. on Aug. 22, 2005.
Asexual reproduction of the new Hibiscus by vegetative terminal cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Alva, Fla. since February, 2006, has shown that the unique features of this new Hibiscus are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.